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Blog: 2015

A year on from the release of the Social Value Bank, housing providers are preparing to include in their Value for Money statements, initial attempts to apply the HACT social values to their community investment activity. Needless to say some very large numbers have been calculated which may attract questions, in particular from those who aren't familiar with wellbeing measurement and social value.

During Mental Health Awareness Week, Paula Lavis from the Children & Young People’s Mental Health Coalition, and Andrew van Doorn from HACT, ask how Housing Associations can engage with the mental health issues of their younger customers.

Bringing standards of evidence into the housing sector should not be seen as a challenge, but an opportunity. HACT's Housing Intern William Howard comments that housing providers need to look to other sectors to ensure that they don't get left behind.

Too much of the UK housing sector is way behind the curve on digital advancement and should be collecting relevant data more routinely and extensively. HACT's Chief Executive Matt Leach comments to Inside Housing.

A lack of evidence of what works is problematic in all areas of housing providers’ activities. But it becomes a particular constraint when we are looking to work with health-related sectors, where people are used to making decisions informed by robust evidence.

What works, for whom, in what circumstances and at what costs? The social housing sector as a whole has, to date, not focused enough on the creation and use of evidence that seeks to answer these questions.